Meet the Ultra-Successful 22-Year-Old Who’s Made $1.4 Million as a Fashion Blogger

Five years ago, Kristina Bazan, then 17, launched fashion blog Kayture with her then-boyfriend in order to have an outlet to express her creativity. Little did she know, that blog would end up propelling her career and changing her life.

Last year, Bazan, who now lives in Sweden, signed a contract reportedly worth seven figures to become a brand ambassador for L’Oreal Paris, joining the likes of Blake Lively, Julianne Moore and Naomi Watts. She is also the first blogger to be signed to the company as a spokeswoman.

“My blog was never the finality of what I wanted to do,” Bazan told Emirates Woman.

“I launched it as an outlet for me to express my creativity. I thought I may be an interior architect or a writer — even a painter one day.”

While successful now, Bazan came from humble beginnings and didn’t know a lot about the high-end fashion world when she first started. She told Emirates Woman:

Turn social channels into sales channels. Get the eBook.

When customers can't connect, they go somewhere else. In this eBook, learn how social selling builds trust, loyalty, and sales.

“When Vogue flew me to Tokyo for Fashion Night Out I had no idea who Michael Kors was. I’d only heard of Anna Wintour twice.”

“When I was growing up I couldn’t afford a designer bag or anything like that and I’d never showcase expensive clothing on my blog.

“So many of my readers come up to me and say: ‘What I love most about your story is that I was living all these things with you.’

“I didn’t come from money and I’m an example of how you can start with nothing and achieve something pretty cool. It gives hope to a lot of girls.”

According to Bazan, great photos are crucial to her blog’s success.

“I would say the most important trick for taking amazing pictures is definitely to find great light, because lighting is 70‑80% of the picture,” she told Teen Vogue.

“Then, just train your poses; I think that the more you shoot, the more you understand what your good angles are. You just need to try to take as many pictures as possible and find out what looks best on you.”

While successful, Bazan’s career as a blogger doesn’t come without its challenges.

“You have no routine, no security. Your revenue fluctuates from month to month, your reputation does too, you travel a lot, and you’re never in the same city so relationships are also unstable,” she told Elle last year.

“All these things create an insecure environment that could falter your step. It’s very important to surround yourself with people that support you and will stand by you with your goals as you spend most of your time behind a computer or away for many days at a time.”

Although blogging is the platform that launched her, Bazan admits that she is irked when she is labeled as a blogger.

“Of course if I’m asked the question, I say I’m a blogger. It is what it is,” she told Emirates Woman.

“But I do find the word quite diminishing because technically we can all click a button on the internet and suddenly have a blog. It takes so much more to actually make a statement in the industry and create something that’s going to inspire people or change their perception of something.”When she’s not working her way up the fashion world, Bazan enjoys composing music and writing songs. Last year, she released a photography book, “On the Go,” which took her two years to finish.

“Now I’ve managed to establish myself outside the internet which I’m so grateful for. One major thing is that I’m becoming an official spokesperson for L’Oréal.” she told Emirates Woman.

“It’s an incredible step for me because there aren’t that many digital It-girls that are able to transition to the actual print world.”